“In college, twenty-nine had seemed impossibly old. By now, she'd thought, she'd be married and have kids. But as each year went by, she didn't feel much different than she had before. Time kept going by and she was just here, the same.”

“In college, 29 had seemed impossibly old. By now, she'd thought she'd be married and have kids. But as each year went by, she didn't feel much different than she had before. Time kept going by and she was just here, the same.”

“The fights they had now were much worse. Isabella had never fought like this with anyone before. With Ben, she had all-out, drunken marathon fights that lasted for hours. She was sure the neighbors thought they were crazy.”

“The peahens waddled round, following the peacock wherever he went. He couldn't see in the night, so he wandered around aimlessly in the pen. Go the other way, she wanted to scream at the gimpy peahen. Stop worrying about where he's going and just rest.”

“It seemed to Abby that the peacock was strutting, showing off his feathers to an invisible audience in the night. It didn't look like he was worried about the peahen. He looked selfish and self-absorbed, like he knew he was beautiful. Abby watched his feathers blow in the wind, and she watched as the peahens followed with all of their strength. They followed because it was all they had ever down; they followed because it was all they knew how to do.”

“Sometimes she missed people before they even left her, got depressed about a vacation being over before it started.”

“Abby watched his feathers blow in the wind, and she watched as the peahens followed with all of their strength. They followed because it was all they had ever doen; they followed because it was all they knew how to do.”